10 Secret Ways to Search for Information on Google

Knowledge is a wonderful gift. You are able to discover more and obtain the answers to the most elaborate questions simply because you are naturally curious. The answers to questions that most cannot answer are now at your fingertips. You learn, grow, and develop into the individual you want to be. They say knowledge is power. Now this power is in your hands with the increase of technology and the growing demand for it each day.

What are the ways you can now access such information? Books? Word of mouth? Truly your best option just so happens to be today’s most popular option. The Internet. With just a simple keystrokes into the Google search box, you can locate the information you want without any trouble in a matter of seconds.

Through the use of tricks designed to assist in your search, getting your hands on the best information has never been easier. Let’s say you want to look something up, yet can’t remember what it is in its entirety. You struggle to type whatever information you can recall, even if it sounds like gibberish, clinging to the hope that it leads you in the right direction. With these secret Google search tips, you will be able to find information that others could only dream of finding.

Using Symbols and Key Words

Some techniques that can be used to benefit your search are adding symbols and words such as, “intitle:“, “*”, “~”, “|“, “related:”, “Around #”, or through the use of quotes. Each serves a purpose that, as a result, allows you to search for the information you need with minimal effort.

Let’s take a closer look at the use of each symbol and elaborate on their functions.

“intitle:“ and “inurl:”

When you are searching for keywords in an article name, simply type this word before the keyword without spaces. For example, if you are searching for graphic design articles you would type intitle:graphic design. If you are looking for keywords in a web address, you would type inurl:graphic design.

“*”

The asterisk is used to replace a word or phrase that you can’t recall. This trick should allow your search to be successful. For example, if you’re looking for a popular television show and can’t recall the whole title, you could search This Is *. The first results in your Google search will most likely be the title of the hit show This Is Us. Bingo…you found it.

“~”

This guy is used for way more than just Spanish! It’s called a tilde and is used to focus the search on the content placed on each side of this symbol. It can help narrow your search to a more specific result when you are searching for a specific subject but not necessarily a specific keyword. For example, say you want to understand more about hammerhead sharks. You would simply type “hammerhead~sharks” into the search box and you will get tons of links to sites that will teach you more about hammerhead sharks in general.

“related:”

This is used to locate websites similar to the address or content you typed into the search engine. Say you want to look for comics that are similar to DC Comics. Simply search “related:DCComics” and you will get results that are similar to DC Comics.

“AROUND()”

When you are unsure fully the information that will lead you best to your desired information, simply type “AROUND” and the approximate number of missing words in the phrase and let Google do the rest. Take for instance a poem. If you can’t remember the whole familiar phrase simply type: The woods are AROUND(3) deep. This should reveal the Robert Frost poem entitled “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and the phrase “The woods are lovely dark and deep,”.

Quotation Marks

Adding quotes allows for a more exact word or phrase to be the focus of the search. In other words, you are able to locate all sources with the exact word or phrase as it reads between the quotes. For example, if you are looking for a dutch apple pie recipe, type in “dutch apple pie recipe” and you will receive only those recipes in your results…nothing else that may be similar.

“…”,

Adding an ellipsis represents a timeline and can be used to locate specific information between two different times in history. You could search for wars 1900…1980 and get information on all wars that occurred during that time period. Cool, right?

Whatever your search is, it can be made easy and quick with the simple addition of a symbol or select letters. We can only expect the desire for knowledge to grow as technology grows. These tricks will help speed up your quest for answers on the internet. You’ll thank us later.

LightHouse Graphics specializes in several areas of online presence such as graphic design, website design, and social media marketing and content creation…just to name a few. If your business needs assistance in any of these areas, give us a call. We’d love to work with you.